The worst outbreak of desert locusts in Kenya in 70 years has seen hundreds of millions of the bugs swarm into the east African nation from Somalia and Ethiopia. About US$70 million is needed to step up aerial pesticide spraying, the only effective way to combat them, the UN said. The rose-colored locusts turn whole trees pink, clinging to branches like quivering ornaments before taking off in hungry, rustling clouds. Astonished by the finger-length insects, children dash here and there, waving blankets or plucking at branches to shake the locusts free. And more are coming.”A single swarm can contain up to 150 million locusts per square kilometer of farmland, an area the size of almost 250 football fields, regional authorities say.
